Prescription Sports Glasses v Contacts

ross_mcculloch

I need glasses for long distances and find that when cycling at speed I miss far too much, I'm going to come a cropper soon!

My current normal glasses aren't the comfiest for cycling and I'd imagine they can't be very safe if I crashed with them on.

So...

Should I get a pair of sports-specific glasses with a prescription lens

OR

Get contacts that I'd only wear when cycling and combine them with some cheap bike-specific glasses?

robmanic1

I've always ridden with contacts, I've never tried the prescription sunnys. Contacts these days are pretty easy to get used to and there's plenty of free trial offers around the place, so give 'em a try. It's worth pairing these with a reasonable set of shades to keep all the crapola out of your mincers though. 8)

artillerydave

I'd second that, daily disposable work out much cheaper and are simple to use.

ross_mcculloch

So I could get a free trial for say 30 days and just use each daily lens when I do my weekly ride?

taliesyn

Yep. I use contacts as I can't get sports glasses made to my prescription. I'm extremely short sighted (-10 in one eye and -10.25 in the other) :shock:

Daily disposables are what I use, the Acuvue moist ones. No problems with them at all so far.

My optician put a dummy lens in one of the adidas sports glasses with inserts for me to try (she's brilliant), and the lens was so thick it felt like i was wearing a monocle

p.s. You rarely get 30 days worth of lenses on a trial. Usually a few pairs of different brands to try.

stumpyjon

eek, you're blind ^^^^ , even my missus isn't that bad :shock: . Works out a lot cheaper for contacts at those prescriptions than the ultra thin lenses though doesn't it.

taliesyn

stumpyjon wrote:

eek, you're blind ^^^^ , even my missus isn't that bad :shock: . Works out a lot cheaper for contacts at those prescriptions than the ultra thin lenses though doesn't it.

Sure does

My last set of specs cost me £450, I could have got a decent front shock for that, or even a labrador to lead me round the trails

AdeLud

Hi, I wear glasses whenever I'm not riding. I get monthly disposable contact lenses to wear when I'm on my bike (1 pair of contacts to last the month). I ride midweek after work and on Sunday mornings ie twice a week. One pair of lenses is all I need for a month. Costs me £15/month. Don't know if there are better deals out there now.

Deffo go to your optician and get a free trial and see how you get on.

stumpyjon

^^ I reckon daily disposables are better value, £ 20 for 30 pairs (Asda or Tescos), no cleaning fluid costs, sterile pair every time you want them and will last years in their sealed packets if you don't need them.

taliesyn

stumpyjon wrote:

^^ I reckon daily disposables are better value, £ 20 for 30 pairs (Asda or Tescos), no cleaning fluid costs, sterile pair every time you want them and will last years in their sealed packets if you don't need them.

I agree. I even keep a strip of daily disposables in the glovebox of the car, just in case something happens to me specs

AdeLud

^^ That does sound good value. Can you get non-standard prescription though (I need toric lenses) from Tescos/Asda and different strengths for each eye?

Gr.uB

I like wearing Optilabs glasses on my commute. I wear proper spectacles at work if required ( not often ). I used to wear contacts but felt too much air into my eyes when riding.
I reckon the glasses give me more protection from flies and stones flying up etc.
Also, the photochromic ones are ace when they change tint in sunshine etc.

The Spiderman

I use daily disposables with cheap sports glasses.I wouldn`t want to spend £150 plus on glasses only to ruin them on the bike.

cannonfodder

if you don't wear contacts all the time it depends how often you ride and how stable your prescription is...

i.e. if you ride most days a week and your prescription didn't change last time you went to the opticians then glasses are definitely going to be cheaper and less messing around when you are trying to get ready

if you only ride once a week and your prescription changes everytime you go to the opticians then contacts are the way to go

robmanic1

Here's a thing; my optician, although he's quite possibly clinically insane, reckons the daily's are exactly the same as the monthly's, only cheaper. I've been wearing daily's for at least two weeks at a time before replacing them, for the past 5 years or more and haven't gone blind as yet, so it seems he could be right and we're being majorly ripped-off by the manufacturers.

cannonfodder

Robmanic1 wrote:

Here's a thing; my optician, although he's quite possibly clinically insane, reckons the daily's are exactly the same as the monthly's, only cheaper. I've been wearing daily's for at least two weeks at a time before replacing them, for the past 5 years or more and haven't gone blind as yet, so it seems he could be right and we're being majorly ripped-off by the manufacturers.

yeah this was on the news a while back

stumpyjon

Robmanic1

Maybe so but I still like the idea of putting fresh sterile lenses in my eyes each day (I assume you still clean them each night). The hassle of cleaning them each night plus the cost of cleaning solutions far outweighs the cost of dailies in my opinion.

Adelud

you can definitely get different prescriptions for each eye (mine are different), not sure about the more complex lenses although I guess you can. My missus gets hers from Asda and she's way more blind than me and has an astigmatism.

Cannonfodder

I'd still say lenses are better than glasses regardless of how often you ride, you can choose yuor own sunglasses and if it's raining or really hot and your glasses are fogged you can take them off and still see :shock: . Mind you I prefer wearing lenses all the time when I'm off the bike as well.

supermonkey

Lenses all the way. I used to mess about with prescription sunglasses and for me they were a right pain. What happens if you want (or have) to take them off? May not be a problem for you as it sounds like your eye sight isn't too bad but if you've got quite bad eyesight and you're out on your bike in the middle of know where and loose or break your glasses, how you going to get home? You could take some spare glasses I spose but who wants to take two pairs of glasses with them on every ride... why not just where some contacts?

If I was you I'd get used to wearing some daily disposables everyday anyway. You'll be surprised at how much of the world you're missing. After 2 weeks (Probably much less) you'll be completely used to them.

Daily disposables. Best thing I ever did.